#510
Title: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Author: David Mitchell
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2010
491 pages
Outstanding! After two chapters, I picked up a copy of Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, and if I'd had more money I'd have picked up all of his books.
I hardly know what to write about this meticulous, compelling novel. I loved the setup of the young Dutchman seeking his fortune in the mostly-closed Japanese trade, his generally less-than-savory companions, the peculiar doctor, and the Japanese midwife with an imperfect face. I loved watching the relationships develop, or fail to develop, including some seriously funny humiliations at the hands of the doctor and others. I loved how it slid into subtle then overt weirdness. I loved the language, descriptions, and emotional tones. I haven't read as pleasurable a novel in quite a while.
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